Paul’s Example as an Apostle
1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2 If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, because you are the seal j of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 My defense to those who examine me is this: 4 Don’t we have the right to eat and drink? k 5 Don’t we have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife like the other apostles, l the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas? m 6 Or do only Barnabas n and I have no right to refrain from working? 7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? o Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk from the flock?
8 Am I saying this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the law also say the same thing? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Do not muzzle an ox p while it treads out grain. ,q Is God really concerned about oxen? 10 Isn’t he really saying it for our sake? Yes, this is written for our sake, r because he who plows ought to plow in hope, s and he who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing the crop. t 11 If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? 12 If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don’t we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right; instead, we endure everything u so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ.
13 Don’t you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar v share in the offerings of the altar? 14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel. w
15 For my part I have used none of these rights, nor have I written these things that they may be applied in my case. For it would be better for me to die than for anyone to deprive me of my boast! 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am compelled to preach —and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, I am entrusted x with a commission. 18 What then is my reward? To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge and not make full use of my rights in the gospel. y
19 Although I am free from all and not anyone’s slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win z more people. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law —to win those under the law. a 21 To those who are without the law, b like one without the law—though I am not without God’s law but under the law of Christ—to win those without the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some. c 23 Now I do all this because of the gospel, so that I may share in the blessings.
24 Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, d but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize. e 25 Now everyone who competes exercises self-control f in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, g but we an imperishable crown. 26 So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. 27 Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified. h
9:1–2. The mention of restraint prompts Paul to recall that some at Corinth have begun to interpret his reserve as an indication that he is not free to act, as they presume an apostle would, without reference to the beliefs of others (9:1). The rhetorical questions he poses are not so much concerned with his defense as they are with the fact that this false supposition may cause the Corinthians to neglect his advice (9:1–27). So he must reestablish his apostolic authority through reference to his experience of having seen the risen Lord and to the results of his initial mission, which brought the Corinthian church into existence through the preaching of the gospel. Thus, though outsiders may question his status, Paul expects his own to remember that their life in Christ is the continuing seal of the authenticity of his apostleship (9:2).
9:3–7. But does not a true apostle ask his converts to provide him with food and drink and the financial support to enable him to travel with a believing wife (9:4–5)? Do not the “other apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas” request such things from those whom they serve? Indeed they do, and so, too, can Paul (9:6), who now illustrates the legitimacy of this right by noting that a soldier has a recognized right to serve at the expense of others and that those who plant crops or tend livestock have a recognized right to share in the produce (9:7).
9:8–12. This right of support is recognized not only in the sphere of human affairs but also in the law of Moses, which speaks (in Dt 25:4) about the right of an ox that treads grain to do so without a muzzle, that he might eat as he works (9:8–9). Employing a traditional rabbinic method (cf. Rm 5:9–10, 15, 17), Paul takes these last words to refer just as much if not more to the reward deserved by himself and others like him (9:10a). Confirmation is provided by the observation that those who have plowed or threshed the grain are also entitled to possess a “hope of sharing the crop” (9:10b). Thus Paul and the others who have “sown spiritual things” among the Christians at Corinth are also entitled to share in the harvest of their ministry through the provision of their continuing material needs (9:11–12a). But Paul has indeed, as they know, made no use of this right. Yet this is not, as his words have shown, because he is not entitled to do so. Rather, it is because he has decided to avoid any hindrance to the reception of the gospel of Christ (9:12b).
9:13–18. Despite the right of “those who preach the gospel” to “earn their living by the gospel” (9:14), which is analogous to the right of those who work in the temple and serve at the altar to “share in the offerings of the altar” (9:13), Paul has chosen not to make use of this or any of his rights, and he is not corresponding with the Corinthians for the purpose of requesting them (9:15). He has elected instead to make his boast in a ministry that disavows any dependence on another except the one who compels him to preach (9:16). Thus it is an almost involuntary obedience to God’s call, rather than a voluntary and carefully planned decision to take up a self-supporting career, that stands behind Paul’s attempt to discharge the trust committed to him (9:17; see also 4:1–2). And the reward he receives for such service is precisely the ability to make good on the terms of his boast, to preach the gospel free of charge (9:18).
9:19–23. But given independence from all, Paul has freely subjugated himself again, not to their support but to their way of life, in order to win them to faith (9:19). Though no longer bound by the notion of the law as a covenant enabling maintenance of the righteousness necessary for fellowship with God, Paul is nonetheless willing to follow many of the customs that are indifferent to one justified by faith (see also Rm 3:21–22; Ac 18:18; 21:26) when to do so means an opportunity to gain entrance for the gospel (9:20). Conversely, among those for whom the law was no guide, Paul is willing, to the extent permitted to him by “the law of Christ” (cf. Mk 12:28–34; Lk 10:25–37; Gl 6:2), to loose himself from divine law as a point of reference if this leads to the fulfillment of the gospel’s objective (9:21).
9:24–27. A last illustration allows Paul to compare his restraint with that of a runner who gives up much to attempt to gain the winner’s crown in the race (9:24–25). Paul does not renounce his rights to no purpose, like a halfhearted runner running aimlessly, or a casual boxer who is always punching the air (9:26). Rather, like the serious athlete, he beats back his physical needs until they conform with the priorities of his Christian ministry, lest after proclaiming to others Jesus’s call to abandon all and follow him, Paul himself should be found seeking to retain some personal prerogative and so be “disqualified” for the prize (9:27; see also Php 3:13–16). [Imperishability]